I brought along a longtime friend and their teenager to join me this year. Both nerds, but they've never done a con like this and were both looking forward to it. We got an AirBnB fairly close (2-ish miles) from the convention center, and we ended up using those scooters to zip in and out. That was absolutely awesome. Loved it. And cheaper than Uber-ing in and out each day.
Gencon seemed to be getting back to the 'good old' days. You know, the pre-pandemic years where you couldn't get a hotel in the block and 90 percent of your desired events were booked before your turn came up for event reg :)
Thursday
GM101 - GM201
I think I'm really hitting my stride on these, and have been dialing these seminars in over the last 10 years or so. I'm always adapting them based on feedback though. This year i did some public research about new GM anxieties and anxieties around improvisation in general, and got some surprising results.
I was in the Hyatt this time for the sessions. Haven't been in there before. Location was OK, audience engagement was great, and I got some good feedback. Biggest one was people wanted my notes. I don't really have much for notes, just a general outline and its stream of consciousness (well...."carefully dialed in" stream of consciousness at any rate). So after the con, I decided to finally sit down and try to put it all in one place. It sprawled very quickly and has rapidly turned into a book. I'm hoping to have the first draft fully completed by Gencon 2024, so that I can give people something if they are asking for it.
I'll ding myself some points for not the best audience management I could have, and I do need to be more mindful of the time.
Grade: A-
Character Voices for your RPGs
This was probably some of the best used time I've spent at a convention. Given by real life voice actors / musical theater performers, it covered the various methods used to create unique voices. Learning to isolate and control the various aspects of what makes the timbre and tone of a voice, that kind of thing. We practiced in small groups and discussed amongst the group what we were feeling and observing. A very cool and very worthwhile class. I highly recommend it.
Grade: A+
Investigative Roleplaying Masterclass
This was supposed to be a masterclass in the stated topic, with Kenneth Hite and Robin Laws as presenters. What it ended up being was just an overcrowded room and Q&A session. I did not get a thing out of it. Bummer because these two are investigation/horror game design masters. I had very high expectations, and even low expectations weren't met.
Grade: D
Heroes of Altamira (7th Sea, 1st)
The edition for this game wasn't listed and I couldn't get an answer from the organizers prior to the show. This was important as I specifically had been wanting to try the 2nd edition. Turns out this one wasn't. It was poorly organized, the GM wasn't prepared and I don't think even knew she was going to be GMing until just before. And thanks to a weird player sitting next to me, a moment was brought into the game where I literally snapped my head toward him and very loudly exclaimed, "What the FUCK?!", as the GM pulled up the X-Card. Like really, dude. What the fucking hell is wrong with you? This was not a fun session. Not at all. GM was trying, I'll give points for that, which is the only thing saving it from an F-
Grade: F
Friday
Eclipse Phase
I skipped because an unexpected dinner opportunity with a cousin I haven't seen in at least 10 years. came up. My friends attended the session and reported that it was very good.
Grade: Withdrawal
Demonhunters
I ran 2 sessions of Demonhunters this year for Zombie Orpheus Entertainment, the publishers of the game. I'm going back to this report card a year and a half later (I'm always behind it seems), and just am not remembering too many details other than in both sessions, the players had me doubled over laughing with some ov their antics. I think I was in the zone for my GMing, and the players were just crushing it. Some themes I can recall though:
- Emotional damage
- Gremlins
- Gremlins on fire
- Gremlins and couches on fire
- EVERYTHING is on fire
- Interviewing the undead, re-deading, and raising them again
- Various insults to the "Twilight" series
Avatar
Pirate Borg
Surprise hit of the con for me. Group wasn't the greatest but was good enough, and the GM very enthusiastically embraced the "pirate GM lifestyle". I don't even know what that means, but why not say it anyway. He was great. He played the NPCs with gusto, and rolled with whatever came next. I can't ask for more than that in a GM. I'd heard nothing but good things about Mork Borg so I figured hey, "Mork Borg + Pirates? What's not to like" so I showed up with some generics and was able to get in. I did this instead of attending a short session of Avatar. I've convinced myself to not feel bad about it, but I'm still not totally comfortable about bailing on the Avatar session.
Grade: A
Sunday
Aerodrome
I had been wanting to play this game for YEARS. Had always seen it in the giant hall with lots of other miniatures games, and wanted to try it out but never able to do any more than just walk by on my way to my next event. I finally tracked down the game and figured out its name. And it was everything I wanted it to be. WWI dogfighting. Does just what it says on the label. The group putting on the event does a fantastic job of keeping everyone engaged, coaching when needed, and just keeping it action oriented and fun. I was not disappointed, and other than having to wait, it was worth the wait. I'm definitely going to play again next year if I can get a ticket!
Grade: A++++
